Electronic device with a master fader and a plurality of slave faders

ABSTRACT

An electronic device with faders. In order to enable a user to readily ascertain which of a plurality of faders belongs to the same group and which one of the faders in the group is a master fader, indicators of all of the faders in the group are lighted when the thus-set master fader in the grouped faders is operated. When the user operates slave faders, the operation is revoked, and only the indicator corresponding to the master fader is lighted or blinked.

PRIORITY INFORMATION

This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No.2012-003968, filed on Jan. 12, 2012, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to an electronic device, such as amultitrack recorder and a mixer, and more particularly to a techniquefor grouping faders.

2. Related Art

Audio signals of a plurality of channels are input to a multitrackrecorder. The thus-input audio signals are recorded in the recorderafter having undergone processing, like mixing, while sound volumelevels of the respective channels are controlled with faders. In orderto increase or decrease a total sound volume of the channels after thesound volume levels of the respective channels have been controlled andbalanced, all of the faders of the channels must be operated at the sameratio, so that the operation is difficult.

Therefore, according to a hitherto proposed technique, there is provideda mode for grouping a plurality of faders. When any of the faders in thegroup is operated, the other faders in the same group are shifted so asto follow the operated fader in accordance with an amount of change.Specifically, when any of the faders in the group is operated, the otherfaders belonging to the same group are automatically moved insynchronism with the movement by means of a motor, or the like (movingfaders).

Grouping of the faders is effective from the viewpoint of ease ofoperation. Concurrently, it is also necessary to enable a user toeasily, visually recognize which faders are grouped. In the case of themoving faders, the grouped faders move in a following manner. Therefore,it is possible to check which faders are grouped from the movements.However, if an anomaly occurs in a moving mechanism, checking willbecome impossible to perform. Alternatively, in the case of grouping offaders that does not entail movement of the faders, it is impossible tocheck which faders are grouped from movements.

JP 4123176 B discloses display control means. Specifically, when anoperating element assigned to a channel belonging to a certain group isoperated, the display control means blinks, in a pattern representingthe group, display means corresponding to operating elements assigned tochannels belonging to the same group as that to which the channelbelongs.

When any of the faders belonging to the certain group is operated,blinking display means of the faders belonging to the group is effectiveat visually checking which faders are grouped. In the meantime, when anyof the faders in the group is operated, the other faders in the samegroup are also moved unconditionally so as to follow the movement. As aconsequence, even when operation of any of the faders in the group isfalse, there arises a problem of all of the other faders in the samegroup following the false operation.

In such a case, there is also a conceivable measure to take any of aplurality of grouped faders as a master fader and take the other fadersin the group as slave faders. On the occasion of adoption of such aconfiguration, it is desirable for the user to be able to easilyascertain which fader is a master and which faders are slaves.

SUMMARY

The invention is to provide a multitrack recorder that enables the userto easily ascertain which of a plurality of faders belong to the samegroup, which one of the faders is a master in the group, and whichfaders are slave faders in the same group.

The present invention is directed toward an electronic device withfaders characterized by comprising: a plurality of faders that aredisposed in correspondence with a plurality of channels and that controllevels of audio signals; display means provided for each of theplurality of faders; group setting means for setting a plurality ofarbitrary faders among the plurality of faders as a group; and displaycontrol means that takes as a master fader any one of the plurality offaders set as a group, that takes remaining faders in the same group asslave faders, that lights the display means corresponding to all of thefaders in the same group when a user has operated the master fader, andthat lights or blinks only the display means corresponding to the masterfader in the same group when the user has operated any of the slavefaders.

In one embodiment of the invention, the electronic device furthercomprises control means that synchronously controls levels of audiosignals of all of the channels in the same group when the user hasoperated the master fader and that, when the user has operated any ofthe slave faders, revokes the operation and does not control the levelsof the audio signals of all of the channels in the same group.

Moreover, in another embodiment of the invention, the display controlmeans automatically sets a fader situated at a predetermined position,among the plurality of faders set as the group, as a master fader andalso automatically sets faders remaining in the same group as slavefaders.

According to the invention, the user can readily ascertain which fadersof the plurality of faders belong to the same group, by visuallyrecognizing a lighted status of the display means. Moreover, the usercan readily ascertain which one of the faders in the group is a masterfader and which faders of the group are slave faders. Accordingly, theuser can readily increase or decrease a whole level of audio signals ofa plurality of channels while maintaining a balance of the audiosignals, by operating the master fader.

The invention will be more clearly comprehended by reference to theembodiments provided below. However, the embodiments provided below areillustrative, and the scope of the invention is not limited to theembodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described indetail by reference to the following drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a multitrack recorder of the embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the multitrack recorder;

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the multitrack recorder;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view for grouping faders of the multitrackrecorder;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view achieved when a master fader is operated;and

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view achieved when a slave fader is operated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

By reference to the drawings, embodiments of the present invention arehereunder described by taking a multitrack recorder as an exampleelectronic device with faders. The invention, however, can be applied toequipment other than the multitrack recorder.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a multitrack recorder of the embodiment. Anaudio signal input circuit 10 has a plurality of input ports and inputsan audio signal from a plurality of sound sources (sources). Theplurality of audio signals are exemplified by audio signals of a guitar,vocals, a drum, and so on. In the embodiment, the audio signal inputcircuit 10 has eight input ports A to H and inputs audio signals by wayof the respective input ports. The input ports A to H are hereinbelowreferred to as channels A to H. The audio signals input from the audiosignal input circuit 10 are fed to a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) 14by way of a bus.

Under control of a CPU 32, the DSP 14 subjects the audio signals of theplurality of channels fed from the audio signal input circuit 10 tovarious types of digital processing; for instance, effect processing,equalizing, and mixing, and records processing results in a recorder 34by way of the bus. A recording medium of the recorder 34 is an opticaldisk, such as a CD-R/RW disk and a DVD-R/RW disk, a hard disk drive, aflash memory medium, and the like. Processing performed by the DSP 14includes processing for controlling sound levels of the respective audiosignals according to operation positions of faders to be describedlater.

The faders 16 are disposed on an operating panel of the multitrackrecorder in correspondence with a plurality of tracks, respectively. Thefaders are provided in a one-to-one correspondence with the plurality oftracks, respectively. However, they can also be provided for a pluralityof tracks; namely, two tracks or more, in a many-to-one correspondence.A detecting circuit 18 detects operation positions of the respectivefaders 16. The detecting circuit 18 supplies the CPU 32 with operationposition detection signals pertaining to the faders 16, by way of thebus.

Operating elements 20 are disposed on the operating panel of themultitrack recorder. The operating elements 20 are comprised of variouskey switches, selection buttons, menu buttons, decision buttons, and thelike. The user assigns each of the audio signals of the plurality ofchannels to at least one of the plurality of tracks by operating any ofthe operating elements 20. A detection circuit 22 detects operationstatuses of the respective operating elements 20. The detection circuit22 supplies the CPU 32 with an operation status detection signalpertaining to the operating elements 20 by way of the bus.

The CPU 32 integrally controls the entirety of the multitrack recorder.In accordance with programs stored in flash ROM 28, the CPU 32 executesvarious types of processing operations by use of RAM 30 serving asworking memory. Specifically, according to the operation statusdetection signal from the detection circuit 22, the CPU 32 assigns eachof audio signals of a plurality of channels to at least any of aplurality of tracks. For instance, when there are tracks 1 through 24,channel A is assigned to the track 1; channel B is assigned to the track2; and channel C is assigned to the track 10. In the embodiment,correspondence between each channel and each track, which is determinedas a result of assignment of the channel to the track, is referred to as“assignment information.” The CPU 32 supplies a display circuit 26 withvarious types of information. The display circuit 26 displays theinformation on a display 24. According to a fader operation positiondetection signal from the detection circuit 18, the CPU 32 commands thedisplay circuit 26 to display levels of the channels assigned to therespective tracks in a rod graph format (a level meter). The displaycircuit 26 displays a level meter image on the display 24 according tothe information from the CPU 32. The CPU 32 commands the display circuit26 to display assignment information on the display 24 while theinformation is superposed on the level meter images displayed on thedisplay 24. In response to user's operation, the CPU 32 also sets someof the plurality of faders as belonging to the same group and storesgrouping information about the group into the RAM 30. Of the pluralityof thus-grouped faders, a fader situated at a predetermined position isautomatically set as a master fader, and the other faders in the samegroup are also automatically set as slave faders. Additionalexplanations about the master fader and the slave faders will beprovided later. The CPU 32 changes a display status of an indicatorprovided for each of the faders according to which one of the groupedfaders is operated. Information about which one is master fader andwhich one is a slave fader is also stored in the RAM 30. Moreover, theCPU 32 reads audio signals recorded in the recorder 34 according to theoperation status detection signal from the detection circuit 22 andsupplies the thus-read audio signals to the DSP 14. The DSP 14 outputsthe audio signals to the outside by way of the bus and an audio signaloutput circuit 12. The audio signal output circuit 12 has various outputports, such as an analogue output port and a digital output port.

FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the multitrack recorder of the embodiment.FIG. 3 shows a rear view of the multitrack recorder.

The various types of operating elements 20, the faders 16, and thedisplay 24 are provided on the operating panel of the multitrackrecorder. The input ports 10A to 10H and the output ports 12 areprovided on a rear surface of the multitrack recorder. In addition toincluding selection switches and a jog dial for assigning the audiosignals of the channels A to H to any of the tracks 1 through 24, andarrow keys, the operating elements 20 include operating switches, or thelike, for commanding recording, playback, stopping, fast-forwarding, andrewinding of audio signals recoded in the recorder 34. When assigningthe audio signal of each of the channels A to H to any of the tracks 1through 24, the user first selects desired tracks to be assigned byoperating the selection buttons provided for the faders 16 of therespective tracks and operates a desired one of the selection buttonsprovided for the respective channels A to H, thereby selecting a channelto be assigned to the track. Alternatively, the user can also select andassign a channel and a track by operating the jog dial and the arrowkeys. As a matter of course, the method for assigning the channels tothe respective tracks is not limited to that mentioned above, and anarbitrary means can be used. Arbitrary means can be adopted instead, solong as they have a function of selecting a desired channel from aplurality of channels, another function of selecting a desired trackfrom a plurality of tracks, and yet another function of correlating thethus-selected channel and the thus-selected track with each other.Assignment information; for instance,

Channel A (guitar audio signal)—Track 1

Channel B (drum)—Track 2

Channel C (soprano vocal)—Track 3

Channel D (tenor vocal)—Track 4,

is generated and stored in the RAM 30.

The fader 16 is provided for each of the tracks. In the embodiment, inconsideration of miniaturization of the multitrack recorder, the fader16 is provided for each of the tracks 1 through 12. However, one fader16 is provided commonly for two tracks from tracks 13 to 24. Namely, onefader 16 is provided for the tracks 13 and 14; another one fader 16 isprovided for the tracks 15 and 16; and so on. When the user has operatedthe fader 16 for the track 1, the detection circuit 18 detects anoperation position of the fader 16 and feeds the thus-detected positionto the CPU 32. The CPU 32 commands the DSP 14 to control, increasinglyor decreasingly, a level of an audio signal of the channel assigned tothe track 1 (i.e., the channel A in the above case) on the basis of theoperation position detection signal and the assignment informationstored in the RAM 30 and in accordance with an operation position of thefader 16. Pursuant to the command from the CPU 32, the DSP 14 controls,increasingly or decreasingly, the level of the audio signal of thecorresponding channel.

The plurality of faders 16 are appropriately grouped as necessary inresponse to user's operation. During grouping operation, there are usedselection-switch-indicators 20 a provided respectively for the pluralityof faders 16 and a grouping ON/OFF switch 20 b. When grouping some ofthe plurality of faders 16, the user first operates the grouping ON/OFFswitch 20 b, to thus activate the grouping function. Next, the userpresses the selection-switch-indicators 20 a provided above the faders16 desired to be grouped, thereby selecting the faders 16 to be grouped.For instance, channels are assumed to be assigned as follows:

Channel A—Track 7

Channel B—Track 8

Channel C—Track 9

Channel D—Track 10.

Further, when the four faders 16 assigned to the tracks 7 to 10 aregrouped, the user sequentially presses the selection-switch-indicator 20a corresponding to the fader 16 of the track 7, theselection-switch-indicator 20 a corresponding to the fader 16 of thetrack 8, the selection-switch-indicator 20 a corresponding to the fader16 of the track 9, and the selection-switch-indictor 20 a correspondingto the fader 16 of the track 10. The detection circuit 22 detects anoperation status of the grouping ON/OFF switch 20 b and operationstatuses of the selection-switch-indicators 20 a corresponding to therespective faders 16 and feeds the thus-detected statuses to the CPU 32.The CPU 32 groups the four faders 16 of the tracks 7 to 10 by use of thedetection signal from the detection circuit 22 and stores groupinginformation in the RAM 30. Further, the CPU 32 sets to a master faderthe fader 16 corresponding to the leftmost track in a single group;i.e., the fader 16 corresponding to the track having the smallestnumber, while grouping the faders and also sets the other faders in thesame group to slave faders. The grouping information also includesinformation used for identifying which fader is a master and whichfaders are slaves. In the above, the leftmost fader 16 among the fourfaders 16 of the grouped tracks 7 to 10; namely, the fader 16corresponding to the track 7 having the smallest number, is set as amaster fader. The three faders 16 corresponding to the remaining tracks8 to 10 are set to slave faders.

When the user has operated the master fader of the faders correspondingto the grouped tracks 7 to 10, the CPU 32 commands the DSP 14 toincrease or decrease the sound volume level of the audio signals of therespective tracks while maintaining a ratio of levels of all faders 16belonging to the same group. Further, when the master fader is operated,the CPU 32 turns on the selection-switch-indicators 20 a for all of thefaders belonging to the same group. In the above, when the user operatesthe fader 16 corresponding to the track 7, the sound volume levels ofthe audio signals of the tracks 8 to 10 belonging to the same group arealso increased or decreased so as to maintain a ratio of the levels ofthe faders of the tracks 8 to 10 to the level of the fader 16 of thetrack 7. Incidentally, the faders 16 of the tracks 8 to 10 do not alwaysneed to undergo physical movement. Concurrently, all of theselection-switch-indictors 20 a corresponding to the faders 16 of thetracks 7 to 10 are lighted. In the meantime, when the user operates anyof the slave faders of the grouped tracks 7 to 10, the CPU 32 revokesthe operation. Specifically, although the tracks are grouped, the soundvolume level of all of the tracks in the group is maintained withoutchange. On this occasion, the CPU 32 lights up or blinks theselection-switch-indicator 20 a corresponding to the master fader in thesame group. Even when the user operates the fader 16 corresponding tothe track 10, the sound volume level of all of the tracks 7 to 10,including the track 10 of the operated fader 16, is maintained withoutchange; in other words, operation of the fader 16 of the track 10 isrevoked. Alternatively, only the selection-switch-indicator 20 a for thefader 16 corresponding to the track 7 is lighted or blinked, and theselection-switch-indicators 20 a corresponding to the faders 16 of thetracks 8 to 10 remain extinguished.

The display 24 is disposed at a substantially upper center area of theoperating panel of the multitrack recorder. The display 24 isconstituted of a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or thelike. A level of an audio signal assigned to a track (i.e., a levelcommensurate with the operation position of the fader 16) is displayedas a level meter image for each of the tracks on the display 24.Moreover, assignment information is displayed in a superposed manner atpredetermined positions of each of the level meter images. Informationabout grouped tracks may also be displayed on the display 24.

FIGS. 4 through 6 show an indication status of theselection-switch-indicator 20 a corresponding to the operation status ofthe fader 16.

FIG. 4 shows a status achieved during grouping operation. The faders 16corresponding to the tracks 7 to 10 are taken as a fader 16-7, a fader16-8, a fader 16-9, and a fader 16-10. Further, theselection-switch-indicators 20 a corresponding to the faders 16-7 to16-10 are also taken as a selection-switch-indicator 20 a-7, aselection-switch-indicator 20 a-8, a selection-switch-indicator 20 a-9,and a selection-switch-indicator 20 a-10. When grouping the faders 16-7to 16-10, the user first respectively operates the faders 16-7 to 16-10,thereby controlling sound volume levels of audio signals of the channelsof the respective tracks 7 to 10 to a desired level. After the soundvolume levels have been balanced, the grouping ON/OFF switch 20 b ispressed, to thus activate the grouping function. Following this, theselection-switch-indictors 20 a-7 to 20 a-10 corresponding to the faders16-7 to 16-10 are sequentially pressed and selected. Through theoperation, the faders 16-7 to 16-10 are grouped, and a grouping resultis stored as grouping information in the RAM 30. When any of the faders16 is released from the group after the faders 16-7 to 16-10 have beengrouped, the user again presses the selection-switch-indicator 20 acorresponding to the fader 16 to be released from the group. Forinstance, when the fader 16-10 is released from the group, theselection-switch-indicator 20 a-10 is pressed again. In accordance withthe operating status of the selection-switch-indicator 20 a-10, the CPU32 generates group information about the group from which the fader16-10 has been released, rewriting the group information in the RAM 30.When the user has released the fader 16-7, which is the master fader,from the group, the CPU 32 automatically sets the leftmost fader amongthe faders 16-8 to 16-10 still remaining in the same group; namely, thefader 16-8 corresponding to the track having the smallest number, as anew master fader in place of the fader 16-7. In order to cancel groupingof all of the faders 16-7 to 16-10, all of theselection-switch-indicators 20 a-7 to 20 a-10 are pressed again.Alternatively, the grouping ON/OFF switch 20 b may also be pressed todeactivate the grouping function.

FIG. 5 shows a state achieved when the user has operated the fader 16-7,which is automatically set to the master fader, among the grouped faders16-7 to 16-10. As indicated by an arrow in the drawing, when the useroperates the fader 16-7 to thereby increase or decrease its sound volumelevel, all of the faders 16-8 to 16-10 that are all slave faders in thesame group are increased or decreased synchronously so as to maintain arelative ratio of the level of the fader 16-7 that is the master faderto the levels of the other faders. Moreover, in this case, all of theselection-switch-indicators 20 a-7 to 20 a-10 corresponding to thefaders 16-7 to 16-10 are lighted. Thereby, the user can readilyascertain that the faders 16-7 to 16-10 are grouped and belong to thesame group. When the user stops operating the fader 16-7 that is themaster fader, the selection-switch-indictors 20 a-7 to 20 a-10 are alsoextinguished correspondingly. The selection-switch-indicators 20 a-7 to20 a-10 corresponding to all of the faders in the same group are lightedonly when the master fader is operated, whereby the user can realizethat a balance of the levels of all of the grouped faders issynchronously maintained and controlled without fail. In the case ofmanual faders, the slave fader 16-8 to the slave fader 16-10 do notphysically move in a synchronous manner. However, in the case ofso-called moving faders, the faders can also physically move in asynchronous manner.

FIG. 6 shows a status achieved when the user has operated any one of thefaders 16-8 to 16-10 automatically set to the slave faders among thegrouped faders 16-7 to 16-10; for instance, the fader 16-10. Asindicated by an arrow in the drawing, even when the user has operatedthe fader 16-10, a level of an audio signal of the channel assigned tothe track 10 of the fader 16-10 remains unchanged. Further, the otherfaders 16-7 to 16-9 belonging to the same group also do not operate insynchronization with operation of the fader 16-10. Thus, levels of theaudio signals of the channels assigned to the respective faders remainunchanged. Specifically, operation of the fader 16-10 is revoked.Further, in this case, only the selection-switch-indicator 20 a-7corresponding to the fader 16-7 that is the master fader is lighted orblinked. The selection-switch-indictors 20 a-8 to 20 a-10 remainextinguished. The same also applies to the case where the fader 16-8 orthe fader 16-9 is operated, and the operation is revoked. Further, onlythe selection-switch-indicator 20 a-7 is lighted or blinked, whilst theselection-switch-indicators 20 a-8 to 20 a-10 remain extinguished. Fromthe fact that only the selection-switch-indicator 20 a-7 is lighted orblinked and that the selection-switch-indictors 20 a-8 to 20 a-10 remainextinguished, the user can ascertain that operation of the fader 20 a-10is revoked and that the other faders do not operate synchronously.Moreover, the user can readily ascertain which fader is set to themaster fader and which fader should be operated.

Although the embodiments of the invention have been described above, theinvention is not limited to that and susceptible to variousmodifications.

For instance, the selection-switch-indicators 20 a are provided for therespective faders 16 in the embodiment. However, selection switches andindicators may also be disposed separately from each other. Theindicators can be made up of an LED.

Furthermore, the selection-switch-indicators 20 a and the groupingON/OFF switch 20 b are used for grouping a plurality of faders in theembodiment. They build up group setting means along with the CPU 32.However, means for setting a group is arbitrary, and the essentialrequirement for the means is to have a function of selecting anarbitrary fader from a plurality of faders and another function ofdetermining grouping of the plurality of faders.

In the embodiment, the fader 16 corresponding to the leftmost track;namely, the track having the smallest number, among the plurality ofgrouped faders 16 is automatically set to the master fader. The otherfaders 16 in the same group are automatically set to the slave faders.However, the fader 16 corresponding to the rightmost track; namely, thetrack having the largest number, may also be automatically set to themaster fader. Further, the fader 16 first selected at the time ofgrouping operation may also be automatically set as a master fader.Another configuration in which the user arbitrarily, manually sets themaster fader can also be adopted instead of automatic setting of themaster fader and the slave faders. However, manual setting of the masterfader is troublesome for the user, which may deteriorate ease ofoperation; hence, automatic setting of the master fader carried out inthe multitrack recorder is desirable. It is also possible for the userto previously determine and register a rule for automatically settingwhich one of faders in the group to a master fader. For instance, theuser operates any of the operating elements 20, such as a jog dial andan arrow key, to thus select and determine, in advance, a rule forautomatically setting a fader to a master fader from among a pluralityof rules. According to the rule selected by the user, the CPU 32automatically sets one fader among faders in a group as a master faderand stores the thus-set fader in the RAM 30.

In the embodiment, when any of the slave faders is operated, only theindictor corresponding to the master fader is lighted or blinked.However, in contradistinction with the fact that the indicators of allof the faders in the same group are lighted when the master fader isoperated, it can be said to be desirable to blink the indicatorcorresponding to the master fader for a predetermined duration when anyof the slave faders is operated. The reason for this is that the user isprevented from falsely recognizing lighting of the indicatorcorresponding to the master fader that the master fader is operatedsynchronously. As a matter of course, when any of the slave faders isoperated, the indicator corresponding to the master fader can be lightedin different color.

Moreover, when the user continuously operates the slave faders a numberof times, the CPU 32 can regard that the user tends to operate aspecific fader in the group and can automatically set the slave fadercontinuously operated the number of times by the user as a new masterfader. In the case of; for instance, FIG. 6, when the user hascontinuously operated the fader 16-10 twice, the master fader is changedfrom the fader 16-7 to the fader 16-10, and the like. User's operabilityis thereby enhanced to a much greater extent.

Although the explanations have been given by means of taking themultitrack recorder by way of example in the embodiment, the presentinvention can also be applied to an electronic device with faders; forinstance, a mixer.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device, comprising: a plurality offaders that are configured to control audio signal levels of a pluralityof channels; a plurality of indicators that are assigned to theplurality of faders, respectively, each of the plurality of indicatorsbeing configured to indicate a status of a respective fader; a pluralityof selection components that are assigned to the plurality of faders,respectively, each of the plurality of selection components beingconfigured to assign a respective fader to a group of faders or releasea respective fader from the group of faders; and a processor that isconfigured to set a first fader belonging to the group of faders as amaster fader and set remaining faders in the group of faders as slavefaders, and detect when any of the faders belonging to the group offaders is operated, whether the operated fader is a master fader or aslave fader, all indicators assigned to faders in the group of fadersbeing configured to indicate an active status when the master fader isdetected as being the operated fader, and an indicator assigned to themaster fader being configured to indicate an active status andindicators assigned to the slave faders being configured to indicateinactive statuses when any of the slave faders are detected as being theoperated fader.
 2. The electronic device according to claim 1, whereinthe processor is further configured to revoke an operation of any of theslave faders by keeping current audio signal levels of channels that arecontrolled by the group of faders the same.
 3. The electronic deviceaccording to claim 1, further comprising an operating panel, theplurality of faders being physically disposed on the operating panel,and the processor setting the first fader as the master fader based onthe first fader's physical position on the operating panel.
 4. Theelectronic device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to adjust audio signal levels of channels that are controlledby the slave faders synchronously with an audio signal level of achannel controlled by the master fader when the master fader isoperated.
 5. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein anindicator of the plurality of indicators and a selection component ofthe plurality of selection components are included in a singlecomponent.
 6. The electronic device according to claim 1, furthercomprising a group component that is configured to activate anddeactivate the plurality of selection components.
 7. The electronicdevice according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configuredto set a predetermined slave fader as a new master fader when the masterfader is released from the group of faders.
 8. The electronic deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to setan operated slave fader as a new master fader when the operated slavefader has been operated a plurality of times.
 9. The electronic deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the plurality of faders correspond to aplurality of tracks, respectively, the plurality of tracks beingassigned a plurality of track numbers, respectively, and the processorsetting the first fader as the master fader based on the plurality tracknumbers.
 10. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein theprocessor sets the first fader as the master fader and sets theremaining faders as the slave faders automatically.